What OCT and retinal imaging show

Part of an eye exam happens at the back of the eye, where you can’t see it yourself. Two kinds of image help George look there.

Retinal photographs

A retinal photograph is a colour picture of the back of the eye: the retina, the optic nerve (where the eye connects to the brain) and the blood vessels. It takes a moment and doesn’t touch the eye.

George uses it to look for changes, and keeps it so that next time he can compare the two pictures side by side. A small change is often easier to see when there’s an earlier photo to compare with.

OCT scans

OCT stands for optical coherence tomography. Instead of a flat picture, it builds up a cross-section of the retina and optic nerve, layer by layer, using light. It also doesn’t touch the eye.

It helps George measure things a photograph can’t show, such as the thickness of the layers at the back of the eye. That can be useful when checking for conditions such as glaucoma and macular degeneration, which can develop without you noticing early on.

What a scan can and can’t do

A scan is one part of the exam, not the whole of it. George puts it together with your history, your vision, your eye pressure and what he sees when he examines your eyes.

Not everyone needs every scan at every visit. George decides what’s clinically appropriate for you and explains why.

Seeing your own scans

If George takes images during your exam, he’ll show you what he’s looking at on the screen and explain it in plain words. Ask him anything.